Several days later, a warship slowly docked at the harbor of Marineford, the naval headquarters.
Soon after, several small figures jumped down from it.
They were none other than Kyle and the others returning from Shimotsuki Village.
Don't ask why he could return from the East Blue to the naval headquarters so quickly, in just a few days.
What fruit does he have?
The Rumble-Rumble Fruit!
With the turbocharged engine at maximum power, how could it not be fast?
At this moment, Kuina and Zoro followed behind Kyle, looking left and right, their eyes constantly scanning the surroundings, acting exactly like country bumpkins entering the city for the first time.
To be honest, that was really the case. Both had lived in Shimotsuki Village since childhood, and its level of prosperity simply couldn't be compared to Marineford.
"That's the square over there, that's the office area, that's the residential area..."
Kyle walked ahead of the two, introducing things to them as they went.
And the two also asked all sorts of questions like curious children, and Kyle naturally answered everything he knew.
Before long, Kyle brought the two to the recruitment office.
Familiarity breeds ease. Dawson, who already had experience with this situation, did not show a hint of the difficulty he had the first time. Instead, he quickly processed their paperwork.
Within minutes, Kuina and Zoro became glorious active-duty chore soldiers of the navy!
"Let's go! Next, I'll take you to meet a few people!"
After leaving the recruitment office, Kyle led the two towards the location of the elite training camp at the back mountain of Marineford.
Not long after, Kyle arrived outside the training ground he had used before. Even from a distance, he could already hear shouts of 'Gomu Gomu'.
Taking a few steps closer, he saw Luffy and the other two currently engaged in a free-for-all on the field.
But mostly, it was Luffy and Ace teaming up to attack Sabo. Who knows how Sabo had managed to annoy these two.
Sabo's strength wasn't that much higher than the other two to begin with. Facing their simultaneous attacks, even with the supreme grade steel pipe in hand, he was still being forced to retreat step by step.
On the other side, Zephyr stood watching them with his arms crossed.
Suddenly, his expression changed, as if sensing something, and he looked over in the direction where Kyle and the other two were.
The moment he saw Kyle, an involuntary hint of delight appeared in Zephyr's eyes. But when he saw Zoro and Kuina behind Kyle, his face instantly darkened.
From quite a distance away, he yelled at Kyle at the top of his voice, "Kyle!! You little brat, why have you brought back two more kids again?!!"
"What do you think this place is? A nursery?!!"
"Hahaha! Haven't seen you for a while, Teacher Zephyr, you're still as spirited as ever!"
Kyle laughed loudly as he spoke.
"And what's wrong with a nursery? How does that saying go? Strong cultivations start young!"
"Training them to become strong from a young age better demonstrates your teaching skills, Teacher Zephyr!"
"Does my teaching skill need to be proven by this?"
Zephyr glared.
"Of course not! Who doesn't know that your teaching skill is in a league of its own within the navy!"
"Others can't even come close to catching up to you!"
"Especially my grandfather and that old codger Garp, they're not even worth one of your fingers!"
"Hmm?!"
Zephyr glanced at Kyle, didn't say anything, but the corner of his mouth unconsciously lifted.
Seeing his expression, Kyle also smiled.
Did he not know what these old codgers liked to hear?
Let's just say, handled~
On the other side, Luffy and the other two, who were in the middle of fighting, all stopped their movements simultaneously and looked over. Their eyes lit up the moment they saw Kyle.
In the next second, they charged towards Kyle in unison, shouting at the same time, "Kyle, you're back, we missed you so much!!"
"You don't know, we've been looking forward to you coming back every single day! Looking forward to you coming back..."
"To take your damn life!!"
When the three arrived not far in front of Kyle, they all jumped up and pounced, each wearing a fierce expression on their face.
They hadn't forgotten how Kyle had hung them up as high-grade bait before he left.
The key was he didn't let them down when he left, leaving them hanging there.
We swear we are not men if we don't get revenge for this!!
"Kyle!! After these days of training, we are not the same as we were before! Prepare to die!!"
Ace roared.
"Oh? Really?"
Kyle asked with a smile. Facing the three-pronged attack from three directions, he didn't move his body an inch.
"Gomu Gomu..."
Luffy was the first to attack Kyle, throwing a fist hard at him.
Kyle glanced at him, sidestepped lightly, dodged the punch, then grabbed his stretched arm and smiled at Luffy.
"Luffy! Don't you know the longer the arm, the bigger the opening?!"
After saying that, Kyle grabbed Luffy and swung him hard.
"Ah!!"
The sudden great force made Luffy scream out.
Immediately, Sabo and Ace, who were in mid-air on the other side, also changed their expressions drastically and instinctively spoke out, "Wait..."
But they only got one word out before the swinging Luffy slammed into them. The three were smashed together like a chain and sent flying, landing heavily on the ground, but only one cry of pain was heard.
"You two bastards! Get off me right now!!"
Ace, who was squashed at the bottom, yelled at the two.
"Oh! Oh! Sorry!"
Sabo and Luffy immediately jumped off Ace. They were wondering why the landing didn't hurt; turns out there was a professional-grade cushion.
Ace got up from the ground with a dark look on his face and looked at Luffy and Sabo who were sheepishly scratching their heads.
These two animals!!
"Luffy! Why did you throw the first punch? Don't you know your own weakness? And you got us both caught too!"
Ace immediately pointed the finger at Luffy.
"That's right! That's right!"
Sabo chimed in from the side.
Now it was Luffy who felt indignant. He yelled at the two at the top of his voice, "Then why didn't you two attack? You only know how to criticize me!"
Ace, "Was it that we didn't attack? We hadn't attacked yet! You think everyone can stretch their arms as long as you?"
Sabo, "Right! We were planning to attack once we got a bit closer. But that punch of yours completely ruined our plan!"
Luffy, "I #@%#%!"
"What are you guys muttering about over there?"
"Could it be that when you said you weren't the same as you were a few days ago, you were referring to your improved skill in trash talk?"
"In that aspect, I have noticed it. The attack power is indeed a bit higher than a few days ago!"
"Just seems rather useless!"
At that moment, Kyle's faint voice came from nearby. Judging by the sound, he was clearly very close.
Simultaneously, the three of them were startled. They turned their heads to look in the direction of the voice, but before their heads could even turn, three dull thuds rang out.
Thump! Thump! Thump!!
...
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